Architect

Somewhere over the rainbow in Kansas, a memorial in tribute to the men and women who have given their lives will be built, thanks to a Plantation architect. Norman Schwartz, who has called Plantation home since 1997, entered a design contest for the American Fallen Warrior Memorial Foundation – and his work was selected. Schwartz's architectural background work runs the gamut. He has worked from small three-person firms to large architectural engineering firms. He previously worked for Arquitectonica, which is responsible for the AmericanAirlines Arena, where he designed the Aventura Government Center.

By Marcia Heroux Pounds and Robert Nolin, Sun Sentinel, April 17, 2014

If you've ever sauntered through Broward College's art gallery, rushed around Fort Lauderdale's airport, paid a bill at Miramar City Hall, or picked up your kids at a Palm Beach County school, you've likely experienced Mario Cartaya's life's work. And it was you the architect had in mind when he designed those structures. "A building is a place for people," said Cartaya, 62. "They need to work in it, pray in it, live in it, study in it. … If you understand people, you become a better architect.

His love of Florida lighthouses helped create an organization dedicated to preserving them, and his artwork of the structures with powerful beams meant to guide ships to shore was even lauded by the U.S. Postal Service. Paul Mayberry Bradley, Jr., an architect and artist, died at his Wilton Manors home Jan. 19. He was 91. Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Bradley served in the Army during World War II and was wounded in action by German artillery fire, his daughter, Pat Bradley, said.

His love of Florida lighthouses helped create an organization dedicated to preserving them, and his artwork of the structures with powerful beams meant to guide ships to shore was even lauded by the U.S. Postal Service. Paul Mayberry Bradley, Jr., an architect and artist, died at his Wilton Manors home Jan. 19. He was 91. Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Bradley served in the Army during World War II and was wounded in action by German artillery fire, his daughter, Pat Bradley, said.

The architect of the Human Resource Center in Pembroke Pines failed to fulfill her contract and cost the city more than $500,000 in damages, according to a lawsuit filed on Friday. Vivian Salaga, the Fort Lauderdale architect hired in 1985 to design the school building provided "deficient and ambiguous drawings," failed to tell the city of increased costs and failed to properly instruct engineers and contractors working on the project, the city alleged in the breach of contract suit filed in Broward Circuit Court.

By Marcia Heroux Pounds and Robert Nolin, Sun Sentinel, April 17, 2014

If you've ever sauntered through Broward College's art gallery, rushed around Fort Lauderdale's airport, paid a bill at Miramar City Hall, or picked up your kids at a Palm Beach County school, you've likely experienced Mario Cartaya's life's work. And it was you the architect had in mind when he designed those structures. "A building is a place for people," said Cartaya, 62. "They need to work in it, pray in it, live in it, study in it. … If you understand people, you become a better architect.

The City Commission gave its approval on Wednesday for the New World Aquarium to hire an architect. The architect will be Spillis Candela & Partners Inc., of Miami. The vote was to allow the officers of the proposed $39 million complex to draw on some of the $4.5 million in state grants that have been set aside for the aquarium by the Legislature. The 106,000-square-foot building is tentatively planned for the north side of Southwest Second Street, next to the Museum of Discovery and Science.

WILTON MANORS Renovation of the city's library is moving ahead after the City Council on Tuesday chose an architect to oversee the project. Educated Design, a West Palm Beach firm, was approved 4-1. A selection commission recommended it in a ranking of three architects. In addition to being renovated, the library may also expand if the city can get the money to buy an adjacent piece of property for the project. The property must be appraised before the city can make an offer to the owners of the site.

STANNY: THE GILDED LIFE OF STANFORD WHITE. By Paul R. Baker. The Free Press. $24.95. Paul Baker, director of the American Civilization Program at New York University and author of an acclaimed biography of the dean of 19th century American architecture, Richard Morris Hunt, has added to his own stature as historian/ biographer with Stanny: The Gilded Life of Stanford White. White, you may or may not recall, was the well-known and highly successful socialite-architect of the age of the robber barons who was murdered by a jealous husband.

James Marston Fitch, an architect whose writings and teaching helped transform historic preservation from a dilettante's pastime into a vigorous, broadly based cultural movement, died on Monday at his home in Manhattan. He was 90. Less interested in where Washington slept than in how ordinary people built their homes and workplaces -- and what lessons modern architects could draw from the most modest and common building types -- Mr. Fitch was the outspoken antithesis of a freeze-it-in-amber sentimentalist.

MIAMI GARDENS - Howard Schnellenberger's allegiances were divided at the Miami-FAU game Friday night, but there was unilateral admiration in the Sun Life Stadium crowd for the legendary coach. The former Miami and FAU coach, outfitted in an impeccable blue blazer with the decidedly neutral purple tie, was honored at halftime of the season opener, along with his 1983 Hurricanes, as UM celebrated the 30th anniversary of the school's first of five national championships. Schnellenberger was also asked to be the Hurricanes' honorary captain and toss the coin pre-game, but the coach - still sharp at 79 - declined.

The Miami Hurricanes' basketball program has long lived in the shadows of its football dynasty, rarely being ranked as a top basketball program compared with five national football titles. After almost 20 years in relative obscurity, the University of Miami basketball team is now squarely in the national spotlight with a meteoric rise throught the national college rankings. UM can thank its basketball coach Jim Larranaga, who arrived on campus two years ago to rehab a program that has never had a winning season during its schedule in the Atlantic Coast Conference, a league considered one of the top basketball conferences in the nation.

The renderings are striking for Marina Lofts, a $150 million development proposed for a blighted stretch along the south side of the New River in Fort Lauderdale. One of the three Lego-like buildings looks as if a lightning bolt tore through it. Several blocks appear to have fallen off the top of another building. The blocks serve as a bridge, allowing pedestrians to cross an existing water basin. The design for the mix of boutique shops, quaint cafes and 1,000 rentals targeting young professionals is the creation of Bjarke Ingels, a renowned Danish architect.

- Six men strapped bags over their shiny shoes and masks over their faces. They were warned about mold, rotten floorboards and critters, living and dead. "You're probably going to see some bird carcasses in there," said a city worker, chaperoning a gaggle of contractors into a city-owned high school built in 1927 and left to nature and vandals about 13 years ago. Developers, tapped by the city May 1, say the wrecked complex can be a dining destination, a wedding site, a market and a concert hall.

If all goes according to plan, tonight's event at Miami Art Museum will resemble a speed-date more than a professional networking mixer. The annual MAM Contemporaries Social, taking place inside the museum's auditorium, packs in 10 sharp-dressed, creative minds hailing from Miami-Dade County, each of them young, buzz-worthy upstarts in the local nonprofit arts and architectural-design scenes, for an evening of schmoozing and presentations....

The newest and most distinctive ballpark in the major leagues sprang from a vision Jeffrey Loria sketched on a napkin. "It had this futuristic, interesting shape, and we had to make a ballpark out of it. We loved the fact that there's no right angles. There's something interesting about that," Marlins President David Samson says. The mantra that became Marlins Park is curvilinear. Like facing Mark Buerhle's breaking ball, it was a challenge for the architects. The result is what you get from a ballclub owner and ballpark mastermind who made a fortune as an art dealer before he began dealing in players.

Memorial services will be today for James K. Pownall, the architect who designed Fort Lauderdale`s International Swimming Hall of Fame. Mr. Pownall, owner of the J.K. Pownall architectural firm, died on Wednesday. He was 72. A Fort Lauderdale resident since 1946, Mr. Pownall designed the swimming complex on Seabreeze Boulevard in the mid 1960s. He also was the architect for a number of projects commissioned by the Broward School Board. He designed Hollywood Central Elementary School in 1968 after the original school was destroyed by fire and was the School Board`s choice in 1970 to design a central warehouse, maintenance and transportation complex.

The Belly of an Architect could have been the film of Brian Dennehy`s career. It is a tour de force for one of the best character actors working today. In F/X and Bestseller as well as in Cocoon and Silverado, Dennehy proved his ability to deliver solid performances that make seemingly routine roles intriguing. In The Belly of an Architect, Dennehy is given an unconventional role and performs well above par in his portrayal of American architect Stourley Kracklite, a man obsessed with 18th century French architect Etienne-Louis Boullee.

The Breakers, the historic luxury resort in Palm Beach, has its own campaign this election year. The 1926 hotel has been nominated as one of Florida's top 100 buildings by the Florida chapter of the American Institute of Architects for the organization's 100 t h anniversary. The Breakers needs your vote. Lend your support to it or the other nominated historic venues at aiaflatop100.org through April 6. The winner will be honored at the chapter's July convention held at The Breakers, of course.